James, Sirius and Peter collapsed on a bench outside of Hogwarts. It was dawn and the late-April sky was brightening quickly as the sun's rays edged over the horizon. The moon had set, and it was warm enough that they were waiting for Remus outside before going back to their room for much-needed sleep.

"I'm glad it's Sunday," Peter moaned. "No morning classes to worry about."

"It does help when the full moon is on a weekend," James agreed, closing his eyes. He turned his face towards the east feeling the warmth of the sun on his skin.

Sirius lolled back against the rough wood of the bench, trying to get comfortable. He dozed off and must have been dreaming about Beth because he heard her voice. He startled awake when he felt a small warm hand gently run through his hair. "Sorry," Beth was bent over, smiling down at him. "I didn't know you were asleep when I first started talking to you. I thought you were just closing your eyes from the sun."

"Beth," he croaked sitting up. "Wh..what are you doing out here so early?"

"Marlene and I just came down to take a walk before breakfast," she said straightening up. Marlene was standing near James, grinning. She gave Sirius a short wave. "It's such a beautiful morning." Beth looked at Peter and James who were looking between her and Marlene warily. "You guys are up early. You look exhausted."

"Yeah," Sirius mumbled pushing up to stand next to her. "We were setting up a prank for Filch and got up awhile ago." His mind wasn't thinking too quickly after being out running all night. Fortunately, Beth didn't look suspicious.

"We are going to go back to bed," Peter added, "as soon as Remus gets here."

"Oh. I'll leave you to get some sleep." Beth kissed Sirius and smiled at James and Peter. "I'll see you later." She fell in step with Marlene and they walked away towards the pond.

Sirius breathed out in relief. The three Marauders sat watching their retreating backs until they were small dots in the distance.

Remus walked up, looking worn out and out of sorts. "I'm ready for sleep," he told them, yawning.

"Beth and Marlene were just here," James said quietly to Remus as they entered Hogwarts.

Remus whipped around to look at Sirius who was behind him. "We told her we got up early to set up a prank on Filch." Sirius said before Remus could ask.

The Marauders were silent, their feet heavy with fatigue, as they ascended the stairs to the tower. Once in their room, Remus addressed Sirius. "Do you want to tell Beth about-me?"

Sirius shook his head. "I don't think that's a good idea."

James gave him a quizzical look. "Why not? Are you afraid she will think less of Remus?"

"No." That thought had never crossed Sirius' mind. "She's very sensitive. I think she'll react similar to the way Lily did —she'll understand what that means and will feel sad for Remus."

"Then what?" Peter asked.

"She doesn't really know that much about the wizarding world," Sirius said slowly. "She was just told stories by her uncle. Since coming here, she's been shocked so many times by stuff we're all used to."

He turned to James. "Remember when we told her about the Whomping Willow? Her first thought was it should be chopped down. Of all the students at Hogwarts, only the four of us and Lily know the real reason why the Whomping Willow was planted. It is extremely dangerous. How many Hogwarts students have suggested cutting it down? None. It shows how differently real muggles think than we do."

Remus frowned. "Are you sure you're not overestimating how shook up she'd be?"

"Maybe," Sirius conceded. "I think Beth feels a bit isolated at times by how unusual wizards are. Lily told me once how scary learning all about the magical world was when she first came to Hogwarts. Muggleborns adjust to it over time, but at least they are also learning magic and how to protect themselves. We're used to magical creatures, plants and spells that can hurt us. We grow up with it, its part of our lives. Beth's used to a world where people chop down dangerous trees just in case some kid wanders too close."

James was watching Sirius shrewdly. "That's not your only reason, is it?"

"No," Sirius sighed. "We're unregistered animagi. Beth is really close to her uncle John. He dotes on her. He had to do a huge amount of work—calling in favors, begging—to get Dumbledore to allow her to come here. If we tell her, she'll be forced to hide this from him because he would feel compelled to inform Dumbledore and the Ministry of Magic if he knew. I hate the thought of making her have to keep a secret like this from someone she adores and looks up to in her family. I don't want to do that to her."

"Isn't it hard for you to keep this secret from her?" James asked. "I struggled hiding it from Lily until you gits let me explain."

"Yeah," Sirius admitted. "But we only have two more full moons here at Hogwarts. It's only a short amount of time before it's over."

"You think she's going to go home to her old life in a couple months and never see us again, don't you?" Remus was watching Sirius with a little too much understanding for his liking.

Sirius felt as if a heavy weight had dropped on his chest but he nodded. "That's what's best for her."

The next several weeks slid by quickly. The weather grew warmer with more sunny days worthy of cricket as April became May. Sirius still needed to warm the pond but he and Beth were able to walk slowly to the castle after swimming without their hands and lips turning blue. Sirius had never been this happy. He let his guard relax as his brother continued to avoid him and he heard nothing mentioned about his relationship with Beth.

One bright day, Beth lay on the couch, her head comfortably cushioned in Sirius' lap, as she quizzed him on spells for the Transfiguration portion of his N.E.W.T.s. At least she had been quizzing him at one point. Sirius felt he had studied enough for the afternoon and was intent on distracting Beth with his mouth.

"Sirius!" Beth laughed as he bent down to nuzzle her jaw. "I thought this was important to you."

Sirius captured her lips with his, his tongue exploring her mouth in lazy circles. "So is snogging you," he told her when he had to stop to let them both breathe. His hand, resting on her flat stomach, itched to move but he just managed to restrain himself. The Common Room was too public.

Beth had forgotten what she had said and she struggled to get her mind back on track. "You..you need to do w-well on th—" Her eyes fluttered closed as his lips moved over hers again.

"I need positive reinforcement to keep studying," he said against her lips. "It's reinforcement time."

Beth laughed before being cut off again. She gave in, lifting her arms to go around his shoulders, her hand running through his hair. Sirius cupped her face and tilted her head for a better angle as his mouth became hard and demanding.

"Providing a show for the first-years?" They heard James' laughter in his voice.

Beth broke away, her face hot. Sirius glared at James as he pulled Beth up so that her back was against his chest, his arms encircling her. "For fuck's sake, Prongs, you've learned all too well how to bring a mate down."

"I try," James grinned. He flopped on the couch next to theirs. "How goes the studying?"

"I'm sick of it already," Sirius groaned. "Beth won't let me stop until we finish this section."

James snorted. "It's a good thing one of you has some self discipline."

Lily appeared at James' side. She slammed her rucksack on the floor, causing Beth to jump and Sirius to stare in surprise. Lily was not usually the one to vent her frustrations loudly. She sat next to James on the couch with a grunt. James took one look at her face and put his arm around her, squeezing her shoulder.

"I take it your project isn't going so well," James said when no one else spoke.

"No. I had high hopes my newest idea would gain us some traction today, but no such luck." She ran her hands through her hair, frowning as she stared off into space.

"Does Snape have any ideas?" Sirius asked.

"His theories have been worse than mine in practice," Lily said absently. She toyed with the button on her blouse cuff. "There's something niggling at the back of my mind. I told Severus I might have one more idea but I need to think about it." Lily sighed wearily. "If this doesn't work, I think we'll have to give up on this. We're running out of time."

James looked relieved but he smiled at Lily sympathetically when she looked at him. "I know you've been working hard on this, Lily."

Lily nodded and kissed James on the cheek. "I'm going up to my room for awhile. I need to think."

She left and James sighed as he turned back to Sirius and Beth. "Let's hope this ends soon," he said. "So far, Snape's never caught me patrolling the hall when they're working on the potion but his friends have come to get him a few times and I've had a few narrow escapes. Wilkes almost bumped into me today when he and Snape came hurriedly out of the door."

Sirius nodded. "I noticed Wilkes or Rosier often come to pick up Snape at the end too. I heard Snape tell Lily it was because they were partnering on a project in Transfiguration and they set their time to be right after the potions project."

"It looks like Lily was right," James said. "Snape hasn't touched a hair on her head."

"Good," Sirius grunted.

"You don't think I was an idiot for being suspicious, do you?" James asked.

"Hell, no," Sirius said flatly. "It's better to be prepared with pricks like him just in case." The muscles in his arms involuntarily squeezed Beth tighter.

Beth twisted a little so she was turned towards Sirius and frowned, slightly anxious. "You really don't think much of him, do you?" She cocked her head at Sirius.

James snorted and Sirius raised an eyebrow at her. "That prat is the last wizard in Hogwarts James or I would trust." Sirius' voice was harsh. He looked down at Beth, studying her. "You've never detested anyone, have you?"

"No," Beth said carefully. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Of course it's not a bad thing. I'm glad." Sirius laughed. "You probably couldn't hate someone that way if you tried."

"Yes I could," Beth retorted. "If anyone wanted to hurt someone I cared about, I would be just like James is about Lily." She had a fierce, stubborn look on her face that secretly thrilled Sirius.

"Really?" Sirius had a calculating gleam in his eye. "So who would cause your protective instinct to flare?"

"Someone's really fishing for compliments," James commented to the room at large with a derisive snicker. "I'll let you have some privacy while Beth lets you down easy, Padfoot." He got up and loped off towards their dorm room.

Sirius ignored James' exit, studying Beth. Her eyes darkened as she looked at him. "Here at Hogwarts?" At his nod, she pretended to consider, then grinned when he nudged her. "You, you idiot."

"So lovingly phrased," Sirius put his hand on his chest. "You really know how to make a bloke feel special, babe."

Beth laughed. "Special is one way to describe you, Sirius Black." Sirius grinned and hauled her up on his lap, fitting his lips to hers again.

Note: The next chapter is long-and I'll try to get it up really soon.